Block, Report, and Suspend Suspicious Shipments Act of 2021

Floor Speech

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Mr. GUTHRIE. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to express my strong support for H.R. 768, the Block, Report, And Suspend Shipments Act of 2021, which was led by my Energy and Commerce Committee colleagues, McKinley and Dingell.

This bill addresses an alarming problem that was identified in the Energy and Commerce Committee's 2018 bipartisan investigation into the distribution of prescription opioids by wholesale drug distributors.

The committee found that when millions of prescription opioids were dumped into communities large and small across the country, the distributors flagged the orders for the DEA, but shipped the orders anyway--even after notifying the authorities that the orders were suspicious.

This bill places additional obligations on drug manufacturers and distributors that discover a controlled substance suspicious order.

In addition to reporting the suspicious order to the DEA, H.R. 768 requires the manufacturer or distributor to exercise due diligence, decline to fill the order, and provide information to the DEA on the indicators that led to the belief that filling the order would violate the Controlled Substances Act.

All stakeholders have important roles to play in preventing substance use disorders, and it is critical that our pharmaceutical manufacturers and distributors step up in stopping pill dumping.

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Mr. GUTHRIE. Madam Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time.

My good friend from Michigan thanked the Republican and Democratic staff. We have gone through a series of bills and have another one to go, most dealing with substance use disorders, mental health, and suicide prevention, and all of them brought to the floor in a bipartisan way. That happens with Members working together, but it also happens with staff working long hours together. We certainly appreciate all of them who are here with us on the floor or not on the floor this afternoon.

This is important. We did an oversight investigation. We did a committee investigation and saw what seemed to us obvious quantities of pills being distributed that should be raised to the attention of people.

I think my friend from Michigan said it best when she said this is common sense, so we want to make sure we clarify the role of pharmaceutical manufacturers and distributors.

This is a good bill, and I urge its support.

Madam Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

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